Are You Nervous?
by SasuNaru Fangirl Seme
Summary: ItaNaru :3 Itachi would never lower himself to playing such a game, until he saw someone else playing it with Naruto. Full Summary inside. M, lemony scented!
1. Chapter 1

ItaNaru for EdSpikeShessyGirl because she is so helpful, supportive, and overall awesome! Hope you like it, I tried to make it as good as possible. (But I probably failed.) ((And this goes COMPLETELY against my Naruto couples religion, so you'd better like it :D)) I'm going to make the assumption you are pretty alright with the idea of SasuHina, and I'll try to do okay with other pairings that appear in a mentioned way.

Summary: AU, ItaNaru. Perverted school kids often play a game called "Are you nervous?" You continuously ask the question while performing uncomfortable (or maybe _not_ so uncomfortable,) actions on the other person until they answer yes, and you stop. So long as they answer no, you can continue until they crack. Itachi would have never lowered himself to the playing of such a 'childish game' - until of course, he saw someone else playing it with Naruto.

Warnings: Lemony Scented? (M.) ItaNaru. Barely, Slightly OOC Sasuke that has nothing to do with plot. AU. High school. (Yes, that's a warning. High school antics and clichés involved.) Mentioned KibaxTenten, SasuxHina and ShikaxTema. These couples also have nothing to do with the plot. A tiny bit of NejixNaru. Strong Sasu and Naru friendship because I can't let these two go off as acquaintances, even writing ItaNaru.

Note: This will be a TWOshot. It will be this chapter, and the next one. I will restrain from making this into an entire fan fiction, for I can barely update the other ones.

Disclaimer: If I really owned Naruto, Sasuke and said Uzumaki would be having hot man sex by now. Srsly.

* * *

The average sounds of a regular day of education rang through the halls. Aimless talking involving classes and grades, as well as rumors and gossips. Metal hitting metal when lockers closed, shoe taps of different tones from traveling students, and the occasional crash of books dropping and yells of over exuberant seniors. It wasn't music, but a drone he had grown use to, though he still despised it. Hell, he hated most of the things in the school, loudness included. But the thing he hated the most was the attention.

All eyes were _always_ on him. Male and female. Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. All school social statuses. Every head would turn when he walked by, and wouldn't turn back to its own business until he was out of eyeshot. That was only the beginning of the attention. He received love letters from anonymous and identified, boy and girl. In person requests for a "boyfriend and girlfriend-ship" were made on a daily basis. They were either ignored or met with a rejection, but they_never_ stopped. Not even the repeated ones.

The only people who never gave him the stares were his freshman brother Sasuke, and some of said Uchiha's freshman friends, under his warnings. Even so, most of his friends occasionally slipped. Sasuke informed him it wasn't due to attraction, but due to his dark figure. He knew it himself, just looking in a mirror, besides being so called 'attractive,' he looked intimidating, to say the least. (All male Uchiha's really did, but Sasuke was a bit of an exception. He had taken more from their mother's appearance. He was paler and dare he think it - a bit prettier. Sasuke would have shot him if he had ever said _that _out loud.) He certainly wasn't any better when it came to a good attitude, though. Both of them had cold, stoic, and dismissive personalities. Itachi however - yes, _the_ Itachi Uchiha, who was like a walking sex god - was much taller, less lankier, built better, and overall, darker. Maybe the fact that his hair was longer added to the attention factor. With that, he thought for a second about cutting it short, but decided otherwise.

For even Itachi - despite his minimal, inner denial - wanted someone's attention, but only one's. The only one who - besides Sasuke - never gave him any.

It was degrading, because said person was his younger brother's best friend. "In love" wasn't exactly the right way to label it, but whatever thing he felt certainly seemed unexpected for someone like him. His name was Naruto Uzumaki, something he knew well, since Sasuke had been having play dates with the boy since Kindergarten, which were now labeled as sleepovers and hanging out.

Be it love or physical attraction, Itachi - ever since he had earned his cursed pubescent hormones, anyway - had never felt so drawn to anyone in his life. His parents had thought him mentally ill, never showing a desire for friendship and never showing attraction to any girl, but Naruto was a well kept secret. However, Naruto was clueless, for he feared if he said anything the boy would avoid him for life, considering how many conversations he and Sasuke had involving busty girls.

The first thing he had ever noticed, even when he was too young to have such hormonal feelings, was how adorable Naruto was. He was a little short, even for a freshman, but his physique was perfect, not too muscular, but not lanky or thin. His skin was darker, like someone who had a permanent tanning salon effect, and his hair was a complete - and as far as he was concerned, natural - golden blonde.

Naruto was…_Sexy_. To put it lightly. Itachi was a senior, and therefore had his share of fantasies, despite his reputation. He had frequent (and embarrassing, at first,) wet dreams about the boy, and even lost it at Sasuke and his sleepovers. Thoughts like, _he's sleeping. In my house. _Often overtook Itachi's brain. Yes. He really, really, _really _wanted into the blonde's pants, but at the same time had a phobia of scaring the poor blonde, and would do nothing of the sort until he had declared his affection. If that ever _actually_ happened.

But what really struck him, and would probably strike any sane human being who ever saw him for the first time, were his beautiful azure eyes. It was like they were pools of water with a mixture of millions of tones of blue, most prominent being sapphire, or cobalt.

Itachi mentally sighed, for he had automatic exterior control, and would never do such a thing. He didn't even smirk - just another trademark of his family line - like Sasuke did. He was always a blank, but he had been told by his mother he often looked a little livid since his slate eyes always appeared to be fiery, no matter what rare expression was on his face. His internal sigh was a sign to stop thinking, just in time to avoid being - internally, mind you - depressed.

It was lunch break now, and he often skipped eating and stayed somewhere quiet to study and avoid the hustle and bustle, but he had skipped breakfast this morning, and decided food was in favor. He hated the busy lunchroom as well, in which every student had the same lunch in at the same time. It was packed.

The tight, sardine like packaging of the room today was enough to make him skip the nourishment. Instead, he glided past the line for food - while trying to avoid both apprehensive and affectionate orbs - and towards the exit of the vast space, when something familiar caught his eyes. First it was the inky back view spikes of his brothers hair, and his gaze moved right just slightly to see a mess of blonde. The gods must have given him luck.

He moved carefully towards the front of them instead of behind, but avoided their gazes. He only got close enough to see and hear what was happening, and so he - most importantly - could see the lovely Uzumaki's face.

As he had observed previously, his little brother was on one side of Naruto, and an unknown boy with long bronze hair was on the other side. A few other boys sat near them, and he could identify one as Shikamaru, but none of the rest. He rested one elbow on the table, held chin in his hand to hide his mouth, and observed intently as the conversation unfolded.

"So!?" Naruto cried, leaning towards the annoyed raven beside him. He looked like a toddler on Christmas, clasping his hands together in front of him in a pleading manner. Everyone else looked similar, but not nearly as exited. "What did you tell her?"

Sasuke brushed his bangs out of his face. "What do you _think_ I told her?" Naruto stared expectantly, clueless, while everyone else rolled their eyes, already knowing the answer. Sasuke sighed, exasperated. "I told her no, obviously."

"Wah?" Naruto's face darkened sadly. His emotions changed like a pregnant woman's, from exited to on the verge of tears to angry enough to rip your head off within minutes - and sometimes seconds. "But Sakura - "

"Is a crazy, obsessive, attention seeking type. I know _you're _after her and just trying to make her happy by suggesting me, but you'd never admit it out loud." The Uchiha smirked and the others snickered.

"Shut up, I do not! She's my friend, is all." But his voice was definite, without a hint of shaking or hesitation. Everyone shrugged a bit. "I mean, think about Ino, Shikamaru. You'd never date her, but you'd still jump in front of her to stop a bullet!"

Shikamaru mumbled something incoherently, along the lines of, "Well, maybe not a _bullet _-"

"Then who _do_ you like? We already know Sasuke's got the hots for Hinata," Kiba paused, taking in Sasuke's 'I-am-going-to-kill-you-dead' glare, "I'm for Tenten, and Shikamaru wants that chick from the match up high school, Temari," He also got a worthy stare from the lazy boy, "But we never hear a thing from you, Naru-chan."

"_Don't call me that!" _Naruto whined, visibly pouting. "It isn't your business."

"Oh? So it is someone. Come on, Naru." Shikamaru prodded.

Naruto grumbled and said nothing, and Sasuke stared threateningly into the other's eyes. He knew when his best friend wanted to drop subject, (and Hell, he knew exactly who he liked, but refused to tell that person for fear of hurting Naruto's feelings,) and if everyone else didn't comply, they'd be feeling it in the morning. Naruto was super sensitive, and Sasuke was protective of that fact.

"Hey, that reminds me," Kiba tried to change subject, for he had been beaten up by Sasuke before. "Have you guys heard about the Seniors game, 'Are you Nervous?'?" Kiba's eyes glistened, and his inner pervert could be read like a book.

"We're all freshman." Sasuke stated bluntly, already knowing about the uncomfortable game. "Besides that, there aren't any girls here." This line caused the others to get interested.

"But we could just mess around, and see how much the guys here can handle without getting flustered." Kiba replied, gaze turning towards Naruto for just a moment, and then back at the angry Sasuke.

"What game?" Shikamaru nodded, leaning over the table to listen.

"You pick a victim, and you pick someone else. The person tries to - you know…get into the other one's business while asking continuously, 'are you nervous?' and so long as the victim answers no, they can keep going until the person cracks and says yes, and they stop. Kissing isn't allowed." Kiba explained excitedly, already imagining how long each of his friends could withstand the sexual torture.

"I'll do it." Neji, the bronze haired boy that Itachi had vaguely identified earlier, finally spoke. Heads turned his direction, all but Sasuke who began growling, as if he had already predicted the future.

Naruto had a ridiculously large crush on his older brother, and Sasuke knew his brother wanted into the blonde's pants, but that was what was keeping him away from hooking them up. Naruto strictly believed in relationships based on love and admiration, not lust or desire. He didn't want Naruto to be torn apart if he discovered that's all Itachi wanted him for, and furthermore, he wanted them to find out on their own. (Despite knowing Naruto would be pissed at him for keeping it a secret later, if it ever worked out between the two.)

But no, he was growling now, and everyone else at the table looked apprehensive because Neji wasn't exactly _liked_. He was a junior whom they had known for a long time, and stuck around for one reason. Naruto. Sasuke knew even more, directly from Neji, that he was attracted to Naruto in the same way his elder brother was.

"Neji," Kiba paused like he wanted to think of something to say. "Want to be the victim? Or - "

"I wouldn't want to be the victim, no." He said casually, a small smile on his face. "But I'd be willing to test how long someone could go without getting 'nervous,' if you need an open candidate."

Naruto was still curled in a verbal defensive stance, but glanced up at this knowledge. The unknowing Shikamaru, all in good fun and without _meaning_ to cause any harm, called Naruto out. "We all know how easily agitated Naruto gets. I bet you couldn't last long, eh, Blondie?"

"Sh-shut up! I could so! I could last for as long as I needed to, and a guy's advances wouldn't bother me." His last words were a little weak, but his expression was still determined. Sasuke's orbs were now knowing and sad, and he rested his chin on his hand - much like his older brother was doing. He wouldn't give his best friends secret away, even if it meant being molested by Neji for the purpose of a twisted "game."

Kiba was grinning now, ignoring Sasuke. "Okay," He nodded Neji on. "I'll watch for the supervisors." Sasuke mumbled something about brainless perverts and tried to avert his eyes to his other side. Naruto gulped, bit his lip, straightened up, and prepared for the torture.

Itachi's fist was clenched and he was fighting to keep his face tranquill, keep from yelling, and keep himself from getting up and killing -for he was sure he could - this boy Neji, considering he had his hands all over the squirming Naruto, and it was pissing him off to no end. He felt a need to break something suddenly, his usually calm temperament gone. He was sure he had never been this infuriated in his life. At some point, a girl he somewhat knew from being her lab partner came up behind him and asked if everything was all right, and he had to restrain from yanking her head off.

It started with just the boy's arm around his precious Naruto's shoulders, and Naruto's somewhat calm, "No." Heads had turned at the actions, but they immediately ignored it hearing the questioning, knowing it was just a juvenile form of entertainment. Itachi watched as Sasuke got up and left, no one stopping him.

Next, Neji's hands fixated themselves at Naruto's hips, and he pressed his face against his throat, which was followed by Naruto's slight squeak of, "No." Itachi couldn't catch the "Are you nervous?" part, only Naruto's replies. That Asshole must have been whispering.

Itachi was sure he had stood up now, but he couldn't tell entirely, seeing as all of his attention was focused on one focal point, which were Neji's movements and Naruto's reactions. One overly wrong move from Neji, and Itachi was sure his self control would break. His torture would be slow and painful, if Itachi could help it. The bronze headed boy trailed one hand down Naruto's torso, and the other hand slipped behind him, Itachi already knowing what he had done. "_Yes_!" Naruto shrieked, and Itachi almost relaxed, but not fully - not until Neji had completely let go, following the regulations.

"You aren't very good at the game." Shikamaru stated to Naruto dully, staring in a slight astonishment at Neji, and not at who he was speaking to.

Naruto had immediately gotten up, following Sasuke's suit - Especially after seeing the unsatisfied grin on Neji's features. He had left his food, and hadn't bothered trashing it - much less eating it.

He tried to locate the Uchiha, but everything was too congested, and he eventually gave up. Sasuke had advised him before that Neji was bad news, but he hadn't believed him. Even if it was just a game, Neji had volunteered himself, and he acted like it was the real thing. Act or not an act, Naruto wasn't comfortable with the thought of the play.

Even after giving up on finding his raven friend, he did spot an Uchiha, just not one he had intended on seeing. Tables across from where he had just been, and now gazing right at him, Itachi sat completely still, and Naruto froze in place, averting his eyes from the man.

But even as his eyes were torn away, he imagined Sasuke's older brother's looks. He held liquid steel eyes that looked bloody red in the exact right light, paired with long, past his shoulders ebony hair that was constantly tied back. He was two feet taller than he was, maybe. He was built broader and toned much better. He'd only seen him without a shirt a few times, but he couldn't even begin to think of anything _else_ uncovered without squealing.

He felt ashamed, though, and had a "just-like-everyone-else" feeling. In his own consciousness, it seemed he was just like every other freshman who admired the dark Uchiha from far away, based on both looks and nature. The only solace from this was that Naruto - in a sense - had known Itachi since he was four years old, via Sasuke. He knew Itachi better than just the quiet, sexy, attention grabbing Uchiha that he was to most everyone else. Itachi - when applicable - was intelligent and relaxed, had a long, withstanding temperament, and to certain people - was very sweet and sociable, contrary to the shock of anyone else. Naruto knew all of these things he loved about him, but he wasn't sure as to why he labeled his feelings how he did. Sasuke was all of those things to him, (With the exception, he had a very short fuse,) and was just as great looking as his brother. But with Sasuke, it was friendship bond that wouldn't be the same if it turned into anything more. Something greater than what they had would ruin their relationship. With Itachi, he couldn't explain. Why wasn't he just a friend like Sasuke? Still they say, the ones who can't explain to themselves why they love someone so much are still in love.

Discreetly, Naruto's eyes moved back to Itachi, then he turned fully back to facing him, forcefully holding his mouth closed for fear of gaping. One of the Uchiha's hands were up near his face, and three of his fingers were beckoning for him to come over. Craaap! Naruto shook his head rapidly and tried to compose himself. All he had to do was act natural. It wasn't like he hadn't spoken face to face with him before.

But he wasn't exactly relaxed enough, considering someone had groped him within the past two minutes - among other things.

Another realization crashed into him. He saw that _whole _thing! Was that why he wanted to talk to him? Wait, about _what_?

Naruto abruptly shut up his intrapersonal conscious and walked as smoothly as possible - which wasn't smooth at all - towards the Uchiha. He knew if he hadn't, he could have stood in that spot and pondered for much too long. Besides that, he didn't want to keep Itachi waiting, or make him wonder why he was just standing there with a look of concealed shock on his face with no signs of moving.

Itachi shortly realized Naruto was moving towards him, so he dropped his hand and loosened himself to a more friendly level. The last thing he wanted was to intimidate him or worry him away. Itachi mentally swallowed. (As usual, hiding every little action,) Naruto was much more of an eye candy closer up than he was far away.

"Hey Itachi," He had a hidden excitement on his features to top it off. "Did you want me for something?" Shoot, Naruto thought. Did that sound too obvious? Duh, of course he wanted me for something. Why else would he have called me over? Besides Obvious, totally lame. You could try to make a better impression on…

"Actually," Itachi's voice was fluid and smooth, like he had rehearsed every word, even though Naruto was sure he hadn't. Just another thing that amazed the blonde boy. His voice was just as enticing as his looks. Crisp and rich. "You know Sasuke is going to Hinata's volleyball tournament tonight." He said it like it was something apparent.

"He, um, never said anything about that. I thought we were going to…study at his - ah, your guys' place - tonight." Naruto stumbled a bit on his words. Itachi smiled just a bit. Neither of them _ever_ studied. It was just Naruto's cutesy cover up.

"Your certainly welcome tonight, anyway." He answered. "Our father is still out on his business trip," Naruto knew this, too. Sasuke and Itachi's father always seemed to be absent. He wondered at times if the boys had grown up hardly having a father, considering how much he was out of the house. Naruto came - at the very least - once a week, and he had only been in the presence of Fugaku a handful of times. "And our Mother will be out for a few hours, as well. She mentioned this morning that she'd be working late."

Naruto's pupils dilated slightly. Alone in that huge house with Itachi? Could he do that?

Itachi saw Naruto's sudden apprehension and went on. "You could be there for when Sasuke got home, and until then, I could help you study." The smile stretched just a bit more. He thought about stressing 'study,' but decided against it. He enjoyed watching Naruto's embarrassed, jumpy reactions.

"I gu-guess I will." The blonde rapidly shook his head afterwards, something Itachi noticed he did when he had said something wrong, or was trying to clear his head. "When should I come?"

"Six, I'll have dinner."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something else, but no sound came. It probably would have been something like, 'That's okay, I don't need dinner,' or something. He wouldn't have gotten out of it anyway. He had dinner with them a lot of the time, any way. He gulped out, "Thank you…I'll see you then, okay?"

Itachi briskly nodded.

Then his hidden, mental, internal self had a heart attack and brutally died, came back to life, and repeated this process several times in the space of however many seconds it took Naruto to walk away, waving and smiling weakly.

* * *

"_Excuse_ me?"

So there really wasn't a volleyball game. Hinata didn't even play volleyball. She was a timid, silent little thing who wouldn't be caught dead playing any sport, and was more likely to be found taking her SAT early. Maybe that's what made her good for Sasuke. They both shared scholastic intelligence, and she was a sweet, pretty girl who didn't try very hard - much less at all - for his attention like other prying females did. Naruto knew that about Hinata already, but being in front of the man of his dreams certainly hadn't done wonders on his coherent thoughts, and Itachi didn't know any better. He thought Naruto had just been a scatterbrain due to the studying lie.

Sasuke would have come home normally, and brought Naruto with him to 'study.' However, Sasuke being anywhere within a mile of the mansion was going to affect Itachi's master plan. He wanted Naruto wholly and totally alone. Was he willing to tell his brother the _entire_ plan? Absolutely not, but he'd be willing to do almost anything to get him out of the house.

Hopefully for the entire night.

"Did you mishear me, Sasuke?" Itachi tried to play it smooth, but Sasuke had been the little brother for fourteen years, and new exactly when Itachi was messing with him or being true.

"I heard you. I think you know what part of 'don't show up at your own home tonight' bothers me. Bringing back a whore?" Sasuke drawled, just a tad teasingly. He knew better.

"Do you want the truth, or do you want a lie?"

"I would want a lie, _why,_ exactly?"

"The truth will make you go psycho protective mode on your best friend."

Sasuke's jaw fell just slightly. It had taken the length of a half heartbeat for him to put one and two together. Then his face screwed up accusingly and he snarled, "You're going to rape Naruto!? He's only a freshman! I swear if you do anything he doesn't want you to, Itachi…"

But Itachi had been rolling his eyes, he knew the reaction would come. He placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, which caused him to pause. "I'm inviting him over for dinner, Sasuke. If I were to do anything beyond being a good host, I would make sure he was _alright_ with it, understand?"

Sasuke stared impassively at him for a moment. He could read Itachi like a book, if no one else could. "You watched the game, didn't you?"

"Did you _see_ me watching?"

"No, but you were."

Silence.

"Should I shoot Neji?"

"Isn't he your lovebird's cousin?"

"Believe me, she'd understand." Sasuke involuntarily gauged Hinata's not-so-upset reaction…

"Hopefully that won't be necessary, after tonight."

"What, plan on telling Naruto you want him for a bed toy?" Sasuke's anger was more of a sad, guilty emotion that couldn't be helped. "That's all you've ever said to me, anyway. Do you really love him, Itachi? Really? Because - "

"Because what?"

Sasuke didn't say the real words, but he answered quickly enough not to provoke suspicion. "Because if you didn't, I wouldn't let you be doing this." The real words? _Because Naruto loves you._

"Doing what?"

"I won't come home tonight. I'll spend the night with Kiba, or Shikamaru." Sasuke grumbled. "Just remember what I said."

"I don't need preaching from my younger brother." But Itachi knew he was right, and he wasn't sure himself if he could take Sasuke's advice. Even now, he was still confused. Sasuke trudged away and headed towards his last period class of the day.

* * *

"You're going to what?" Iruka murmured, half conscious. Poor thing. He had been working at home since his grade school students had the next few days off, but he was still working, nonetheless. The stack of papers he was grading was immense, just as it was this morning.

"I'm going to Sasuke's place to study tonight, okay?" He wasn't lying. Yet. It hurt to lie to Iruka at all, but he had a feeling he'd have to at some point for this to happen. Naruto kept his book bag on his arms to help with his case, and dashed passed their dining room table Iruka was working at and into the kitchen.

"How long will you be gone?"

"I was thinking on staying the night. Mikoto offered to take me to school in the morning," First lie. He didn't know that for sure, though knowing Mikoto, she'd be more than happy to. He had to convince Iruka this would be just like every other get-together he had with the Uchiha's, although it was far from. While pondering and waiting for Iruka's response, Naruto tried to sweeten things up - making him tea in the kitchen.

"I suppose it's alright, then, just make sure there's a parent in the building at all times. I want you supervised."

Naruto bit his lip, continuing with the preparation of the tea. There wouldn't be, at least not for awhile. He felt like he was a little too old to have to be "supervised," but he was also sure it had something to do with Itachi, or Sasuke, for that matter.

Of course Naruto had spilled to Iruka. Besides Sasuke, Iruka was the only person on earth he could talk to without being judged or hurt. Iruka had had his suspicions long enough, and he'd told him the moment he wondered. "Mikoto will be there, Fugaku is out on another trip." Of course, Naruto had only told him about the…boys. He hadn't said a thing about Itachi specifically. Be it either of the Uchiha boys that Iruka was aware of, Naruto would never be aloud to step foot into their home again.

Naruto picked up the tea, still seeping, and stumbled back into the kitchen. "Here, Ruru." He couldn't remember a time when he was without Iruka. Naruto's parents and relatives were all unknown to him, for they were murdered when he was too young to remember, much less understand their absence. Iruka had adopted - more like found him among the remains of the bloodbath, and legally took him in. Iruka had the support and advice of a father, and the worrisome, comforting spirit of a mother, so he was all Naruto ever needed for parenting. They looked nothing like the other, but anyone would have thought they got along better than most blood related parent and child.

"Thanks. I've been super busy, lately, what with the kids' school year being almost over. I can't wait until summer." Iruka dropped everything, paper and red pen, and worked on the tea. Caffeine. His saving grace.

"Yeah, lucky brats get out way before we do." Naruto murmured, but then shook his head. "Don't worry about dinner, I'm going to eat at their place. Itachi's cooking, so I want to see how it turns out." First of all, Naruto did not doubt the ability of Itachi's cooking. The guy could do anything perfectly, like he had been doing it his entire life. Second of all, it wasn't a lie.

"I was just going to go out anyway, if I ever get this done - " Iruka glared at the ominous stack, willing it to get smaller with no effect.

"Don't starve yourself, Dad." Naruto carefully and purposefully, while still holding his bag, began a beeline for the door, but not too eagerly. "I'll see you tomorrow, after school. I'll ride the bus home."

Iruka stopped noisily sipping the hot liquid, and looked up. His parental instincts had kicked in like a furnace in the winter time. "Naruto. How do you plan to get to their house?" He subtly put in the suspicion.

"Ahm…" Shit. He was planning on walking. It wasn't very far, but it still wouldn't fly with Iruka. "I was going to walk. It's not that far…" Naruto bit his lip, hoping and praying to whatever gods existed that Iruka wouldn't suggest driving him there. He'd notice the lack of Mikoto's car, and wouldn't let him go.

"It _is_ only a few blocks," Iruka didn't sound suspicious anymore. He sounded upset, like he knew his son was lying to him. Hiding something. Naruto had never walked the distance to their house before. He had always wanted a ride, and at times even wanted Iruka to come in and hang out with the family. That wasn't normal. "You don't want a ride?"

"No," Naruto managed, straining at Iruka's voice.

"Naruto, what are you hiding?"

"I have a date," Naruto gasped out, almost immediately. He couldn't hide from Iruka. If worse came to pass, he'd call Itachi and say he couldn't come. He didn't want to veil something like this, even if it meant losing a night with someone he loved so much. "I mean, it'll be just two of us. I can't really say it's a date, but this person, I wish he did." Naruto rambled then cut himself off, waiting for a response.

Iruka was quiet for a while, and Naruto didn't dare turn around and gauge his face. Finally he choked out, "Which one?" Referring to Sasuke and Itachi.

If he had said Sasuke, things might have flown a bit easier. Sasuke had been his friend since he was a baby. Kakashi, Iruka's best friend, was Sasuke's uncle. After only one, practically accidental meeting, they had been together ever since. Falling in love with him would have seemed like the next step to Iruka, and he couldn't be blamed. Sasuke was his same age, too, which made Iruka's worries go downhill.

But it wasn't Sasuke. Sasuke would be his best friend for his entire life, and it would never falter. Itachi was something more than a friend. The mutuality wouldn't be there. It was some other human need Naruto had already only begun to experience.

"It's Itachi." Naruto bit his lip harder, and dug his fingernails into his palms. Itachi's name itself felt like ice or poison on his tongue. Something forbidden but oh so sweet.

Iruka didn't talk again.

Naruto bolted around at the too long silence, and wrapped the suddenly hurt Iruka up in a hug. Iruka didn't budge. "Dad, listen. I'm sorry." And he was. "Sasuke won't be there tonight, and Mikoto will be home a little later than usual." Naruto kept the truth as thin as possible, but tried to reassure him. Iruka stayed unmoving, and stared past Naruto's shoulder with glazed eyes.

Then he abruptly snapped out of it. "You can go."

Naruto stiffened a little, then pulled back and looked at Iruka's harsh expression. That was definitely not a good sign. "But, Iruka - "

Iruka's harsh expression dissipated, and he begged, "Don't let him hurt you. Don't let him touch you, don't let him do anything you know he isn't supposed to do. He's eighteen years old, and if I find out anything happened to you, I'll see to it he goes to jail. Kakashi is a lawyer." The sorrowful look on his face only made Naruto feel even worse, but he didn't want to do this anymore.

"Dad, can't I make my own decisions?" What a risk. Iruka had surely been expecting some kind of, "I know," or, "I promise." Iruka just stared for a moment. Naruto stepped away and turned on his heels, heading for the door. "See you tomorrow."

Iruka didn't do a thing to stop him.

* * *

:D


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer : If I really owned Naruto, would I be writing this?

Note: Bwahaha, AU Itachi is my new favorite thing to write xD I REALLY Liked writing this because it contains antics from my first relationship. There was, a problem, (Like one being older, or the same gender, something like that. It isn't important.) and I was in Naruto's position wondering, WTF do I do!? In the end, I just told them, and…^^

**I changed my mind. 3 chapters. Because the plot holes kill. Besides that, I have more ideas.**

**  
**Warnings: Slightly more mature than the first chapter, but not much. The third is what you should worry about.

* * *

"What?" Itachi was losing his self control. All would snap if this _wasn't_ some kind of sick joke. He held his home phone up, straining to listen and make sure he wasn't hallucinating. His inner self had already died again.

Sasuke spoke to him, through his cell phone. "I said Kiba has a basketball game and an after practice party. Shikamaru is grounded. No way in hell I'm asking _Neji_."

Itachi rubbed his temple with his free hand. "Why don't you got to the Hyugga's place so you can be with _Hinata_?"

"What, and be beheaded by her father?"

Itachi growled, this time out loud. Sasuke was the only exception to the theory of, "no human being had ever seen Itachi's emotions." He had watched Itachi cry. Long story. Involving Naruto. Yes, that story. "What do you plan to do?"

"Come home." Sasuke smirked through the cell phone, and Itachi could hear the waves of playful hatred in Sasuke's voice. Itachi didn't bother begging. Sasuke already knew what his reply would have been. "Don't make me call Mom."

"Mother is out," Itachi grinned, now, feeling new hope. "She's spending the night at the office for a party." No. Much to Naruto's future embarrassment, Mikoto wouldn't be coming home at all.

Sasuke was silent on the other line, when an agreement formulated in his head. "Well, I'm not sleeping outside for the night. I'll come home…but I'll stay in my room. Then Naruto won't even have to know I'm there. And -" Sasuke snickered.

"And?" Itachi spat.

"I could tape the entire thing and give it to Hinata for her Yaoi-fangirlism." The shy, quiet types were always the biggest perverts, Sasuke had come to learn.

Itachi's eyes widened. "You wouldn't -"

"I would. I'll just sneak through my window in the back to get in my room. Night, Itachi." Sasuke grinned and hung up before his brother could say a thing. He only heard his incoherent protest as he spoke. He'd found Hinata's birthday present. Now he would just have to keep his own sanity, having to listen to it. Sasuke stopped dead in his own thoughts. Whatever _it_ may be.

* * *

The front door was painted a sort of burgundy red color. Naruto was starring at it, perched on the porch, mentally preparing himself for the night ahead, and praying that Itachi didn't open the door and see him standing there like an idiot, daydreaming. A bad habit of his. The outside of the house - along with the inside - of their home was any family's dream. Huge and beautiful.

Naruto still felt awful about walking out on Iruka like he had. He'd have to patch things up with him tomorrow. Iruka had done so much for him, it felt like a crime to do anything at all that upset him, even remotely. But at the same time, he was thankful he had gotten out of the house. He didn't want to argue with him - that would've made things way worse.

And now that he had gotten out of the house, he'd be solo with Itachi. At least, for a few hours. Mikoto and Sasuke would be back - Mikoto, at the very least, he had a feeling Sasuke would stay and hang out with Hinata - but any time alone with him seemed like a sanity killer. He'd probably be blushing the entire time. Previously, Sasuke had been there to - involuntarily yet purposefully - distract him. Now he wouldn't be.

Heart racing, Naruto took a few deep breaths and rang the doorbell.

No answer.

"Eh?" A few moments passed, and Naruto rang the doorbell again at a polite interval - well, for Naruto - and waited.

No answer.

Naruto would surely commit suicide if Itachi had either forgotten, - but that wasn't ever the case with Itachi - been in some kind of accident, or said it was another day, and he had been too scatterbrained to pay attention to the date. He waited just a few seconds longer this time and reached out to ring the doorbell again, but the door handle finally budged. At first it was a shaky, rushed movement. It stopped, then the movement was smoother. The handle turned and Itachi pushed the door open.

"Good evening, Naruto."

Naruto just stared at him, unable to say anything but, "Hi."

"Sorry, I had to finish up something with dinner," Still smooth, still perfect. Itachi had really been busy trying to get his hands on Sasuke, whom was upstairs, but he had locked his door. His torture would have to wait. "Besides that, it's all ready. You're right on - " He paused, for Naruto didn't appear to be moving or breathing.

Itachi smiled a bit. "Naruto?"

"Oh, oh, yeah?" He shook his head rapidly.

"You're right on time." He stepped off to his side, and Naruto took this as his cue to walk in. He stumbled in a highly ungraceful way through the door, like he hadn't known the house at all. But he did, and - after sloppily stepping on his heels to remove his shoes - his feet guided him to the kitchen, with no help from his brain. Probably because after shutting the door, Itachi followed much too closely behind him. (In truth, that was in Naruto's head.) He walked on through the kitchen, completely immune to the smell that would have had him drooling, for he was still a tad out of it. Mesmerized. He couldn't believe he hadn't fainted yet. He was really doing this!

Past the kitchen was the dinning room, where Naruto stopped in his tracks and forgot his embarrassment for a few moments. "You made ramen!" Now his sense of smell and obsession over his favorite food kicked in. Two bowls of said heavenly substance sat across from each other with spoons and chopsticks beside them, atop the Uchiha's pretty oak wood table. The ramen itself was adorned with all kinds of toppings - all that went together, and didn't kill the flavor or theme at all.

"It's your favorite, isn't it?" But Itachi wasn't right behind him anymore, he was back in the kitchen, and Naruto had only heard him murmur. He blushed, shook his head back and forth, and dropped the book bag he was still carrying next to one of the chairs.

"Ye-yeah."

"Do you want something to drink?" Itachi smirked, he could _hear_ the embarrassment. This was a good sign.

"Wa, wa, no, water! Please." _Hear _it.

Itachi followed Naruto to the kitchen after getting two glasses of water, and saw Naruto sitting at one of the spots, waiting to eat. That certainly wasn't normal. The way Sasuke and the blonde ate when he was over, you'd think neither of them had swallowed a thing in their lives. Pubescent boys. Itachi placed one of the glasses besides Naruto's bowl then took his seat across from him. So maybe he _wasn't_ a big fan of ramen, but it was edible.

Firstly, Naruto chugged the water. He wasn't doing so well. Not in a bad sense, he just new he needed to relax.

Itachi helped with this immensely, though, once they began eating. He asked questions. Simple questions that weren't at all prying but worthy of conversation. Like how he was doing in school, if Sasuke had done anything bad lately, if Iruka and Kakashi were well, and what kind of things he needed assistance in. Naruto had mentioned particularly math - he was in geometry - however, he wasn't really having problems with anything. But he _had_ said studying, and doomed himself. Or so he thought.

"What lesson are you on? I remember most of them." Itachi was beyond math. He'd finished all that was required for graduation, and two extra math classes. He'd been way ahead of the game, and was taking geometry in middle school.

"Quadrilaterals. You know, all of those stupid rules you have to remember - angles and congruent sides…how to prove something is a parallelogram, then having to remember that everything true for a parallelogram is true for rhombuses, rectangles, and squares. Then you learn things that are true for rhombuses are also true for rectangles and squares, all rules that apply to a rectangle also apply to a square…Then trapezoids are something else entirely -" Naruto paused, and looked up at Itachi's smirking face. He comprehended quickly. "_GAH! _I'm _MATH _talking!" He'd gotten much too relaxed, and had said something stupid. That was something he'd been hoping to avoid.

Itachi just chuckled halfheartedly. "No, it just sounds like you have it down, to me."

"Um." Crap. And he did. "I…Have a poem I have to write for English."

Itachi just shook his head, a smile permanent on his face. "You really don't need help, do you?"

"Not really." Naruto muttered shyly, barely avoiding slamming his forehead against the table. Not only would he lose ten brain cells, he'd look like an even bigger idiot. If that were possible.

But while Naruto was concentrating on not being a moron, Itachi was concentrating on not jumping Naruto. (A.N. This is my favorite sentence xD)

He looked so sweet, so innocent, and so adorably lost and embarrassed. At the same time, there was a fighting fire locked in his eyes. Naruto pushed his bowl slightly out of the way, and his head slumped forward, leaning his chin on the table. His golden blonde hair was mussed from stress, and lack of brushing it since the school day. His face was a somewhat noticeable shade of scarlet, and his sapphire eyes were half lidded. It looked like he needed reassuring now. Like a puppy who had been kicked by it's owner. "I've known you since you were little, so I know for a fact you never come here to 'study.' We could still do something fun. Studying wasn't my limitation or anything. Did you think so?"

Naruto's receding red face gazed at him, eyes still a little wide, and he sat back up. "No, I mean," He stumbled with his words just a bit. "I don't know what I thought."

Before Naruto could return to his rejected, puppy-dog state, Itachi stood up from his chair. Said boy froze in his own seat, and Itachi stepped forward, lowering his head to be at eye level with the blonde. But he was smiling, something Naruto wasn't exactly used to. Itachi was normally such a blank, smiling so much seemed odd for him, though he did grace the expression every once in awhile. Itachi reached out and stroked the top of Naruto's head, slithering his fingers through blonde hair.

"You're always welcome here. Alone, with me, with Sasuke, with any of us, anytime you want. I love having you around."

Naruto found himself leaning into Itachi's hand even when it went away, but he abruptly stopped. He could only nod stupidly and mutter more thanks. He couldn't believe the emotions wiring through him. Itachi. He looked up to Itachi in all kinds of ways, in his success and support. His blank demeanor and his sweet, accommodating - _loving_ - hidden self. His sexy, shadowy features, like dark hair and dark eyes. Besides all of this, how he was treating him now. Itachi liked him enough to selflessly invite him over, cook for him, have no problem with his small, awkward like, and…

_He loved having him around._

Naruto stomach warmed to the core, and his chest got heavier. The emotions swelled and swept across his body like a wave on a beach, and the wave didn't return to sea. Itachi had reminded Naruto why he loved him.

While, that was wonderful, Naruto's stomach and self control weren't. "Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"I'll be right back." Naruto stood up quickly and dashed away from the table, heading down a familiar long hallway past two rooms and finally to a bathroom. Meanwhile, drunk with success and even more anticipation still, Itachi cleaned everything at the table up. He had more plans, for he new the studying would fail.

What was his plan? His plan was to slowly let his - affection? Maybe that was the right word - affection for Naruto reveal itself, until he was somewhat convinced and maybe more so willing. Hopefully, he'd get a tiny, _tiny_, minuscule amount of action. Maybe. Hells, he was going to try.

Meanwhile, Naruto was having his own problems in the bathroom. He glared at his reflection in the mirror above the sink, and, as Iruka had tried to do with his stack of paper, he willed his red face to go back to normal. Slowly but surely, it did. Unlike the paper. Naruto's breathing returned to normal, and he adjusted the spikes of his hair with his hands, back to normal. This wasn't good. Itachi hadn't even been _that_ close.

Naruto swallowed hard and thought about what to say. He could tell him. Telling him was an iffy option. But if he told Itachi the truth about how he felt, maybe he wouldn't act like such a wreck around him. What's the best thing that could happen? Itachi would return the feelings. Which, in this case, wasn't probable. Itachi seemed to like him, but not in the sense that Naruto did. For all he knew, Itachi had a wonderful girlfriend he'd never met. What's the worst thing that could happen? A repulsed rejection. That would hurt. Immensely. But…

Naruto ran through ways to start in his head, while barely even paying attention to anything else as he left the bathroom and went back into the house to find Itachi. Finding him wasn't hard. He was back in the kitchen. Everything on the table had been picked up, and he was rinsing out the bowls and by the looks of it, just finishing up.

"I-I could have done that!" Naruto half yelped, dashing over to the sink. "I mean, you cooked, so I could have…"

"You could have, I just probably wouldn't have let you." But he was smiling. Naruto had only seen the rarity of Itachi being blissfully happy a few times, and now that it seemed permanent for the night, he loved it. Itachi had liquid steel eyes that looked more like melted black wax when he was happy. glossy, clean, warm, and liquefied. "I'm just about done anyway."

"I'm sorry," Naruto murmured.

"Quit it." He teased, hand drifting to Naruto's head again, resting there momentarily.

"When do you think Mikoto or Sasuke will be back?" Naruto had hoped and prayed his answer didn't make Itachi feel guilty or unwanted, he was curious. Curious to know how much longer he'd _get_ to be with him.

Itachi was having a similar problem. Sasuke was upstairs and they were playacting that he wouldn't be home at all, and Mikoto was spending the night at a work party. Overall, he tried his hardest not to scare the blonde. "Actually," He waited, and he could sense Naruto's distress behind him. Not good. "Sasuke is spending the night with Hinata." Itachi's inner self slapped himself. _That_ made sense! Sasuke, a destined Uchiha - involuntary image of a sex god - spending the night with the Hyugga's daughter. _So _much sense!

"And what about Mikoto?" Naruto hadn't questioned this stupid excuse at all, just breathed out in anticipation.

Itachi couldn't lie to him. He turned from the sink so he could Naruto's face, and the boy had to quickly recompose it from just a slight apprehension. "Mother is spending the night at the office with her work friends."

"Oh." His head was spinning, he was feeling queasy. He'd told Iruka he'd spend the night, but was that a no go? Where would he sleep? Could he sleep? Alone in the home with Itachi? Sasuke and Mikoto being there had made it different, but now…

"Naruto, I didn't know about Sasuke until right before you came. I thought - " He fibbed just a bit, but Naruto cut him off with a short wave of his hands.

"No, no, really. It's okay. Don't - " Naruto steadied himself, holding his hands to his forehead. He was likely to pass out, he swore he could feel vertigo. At this point, it didn't bother him to be having an episode infront of Itachi. What's the worst that could happen? Naruto was going to tell him his soon to be rejected feelings, anyway. "I just, I told Iruka I would spend the night here, and that I could get a ride to school tomorrow. I didn't even think about asking!" The last part came out a half yell.

Itachi couldn't answer momentarily, just watched the blonde boy regain his composure. He looked calmer now, relaxed. Maybe not glad or relieved, just over what he had been previously going through. Like he had remembered something that made everything alright. Finally he said, "I can drive you, and we have two spare bedrooms, so it's perfectly fine." His smile was long gone, to Naruto's displeasure.

_Or was it? _Naruto thought, chewing on his lower lip. "I figured."

Itachi mentally sighed, feeling the need to drop subject. "It's still earlier, though, and I won't let you entertain yourself, not for a moment. Is there something you'd like to do?" He tried to sound smooth, inviting, and docile again, but something was still bothering Naruto. If he didn't stop biting his lips soon, they'd bleed. "Naruto, is something else wrong?"

"Sasuke and Hinata are so lucky," He almost whispered it.

"What?" Itachi asked, not like he hadn't heard it - just wanting further explanation.

"You said Sasuke was spending the night with Hinata. They're probably alone, and having fun, and enjoying themselves, like a couple. I bet her father doesn't even no about it, much less approve, but that's what makes it all the more exiting for them. Y'know, since they love each other, and all that." He realized a little near the end how out of character he sounded, and tried to fix it, but it didn't work well.

"Why say that?" Itachi didn't bother to hide now, for once in his life. He couldn't stop watching Naruto, even if he wanted to. His sapphires for eyes were dark and solid, like he was drilling holes with them.

Then Naruto made the most perfect face in existence, and Itachi's eighteen years of built up self control shattered into tiny pieces. He bit his lip harder, squeezed his eyes closed, and his face turned an entirely new shade of red. "I wish I was her, and I had someone just as perfect for me."

Before jumping Naruto, a sane thought passed through Itachi's head, which almost stopped him completely. It hadn't even occurred to him before, but the way Naruto was talking now, there was a ridiculously good chance -

_Was it his brother?!_

Was it Sasuke? Was that why he'd suddenly acted like that, talking about him and Hinata being together, or was it just a comparison to someone else? That last thought had relieved him. Instantly. Who else could he possibly be comparing Hinata and Sasuke's relationship to, if not - his internal self did a flip-flop - _him_ - or Sasuke? And, if it was Sasuke, why would Naruto even be here? Naruto didn't go through with what he didn't want to. He would have said something. He would have tried. Sasuke would have figured it out by now. No, that's not what - or rather, who it was. It was…

…Right?

"So, so, I mean," Naruto tried to recompose again, but it didn't work. He assumed it had, but his exterior hadn't changed a bit. "That was really stupid, so don't -" Then his speech was completely taken away, like his vocal cords were tied together.

Itachi, with speeds he'd never seen, had presumably snapped. Naruto had only seen a blur of colors, and now he was infront of him. Actually, much closer than that. One of Itachi's hands was at his side - his nails digging into his palms - and the other was firmly yet delicately holding the blonde's chin up. The light was right, and Itachi's eyes had a glimmer of red.

So much for self control.

As much as he had dreamed about this, or something like it - whatever the hell this was - he was suddenly horrified, and if it weren't for his newly existing paralysis, he would have been acting on every nerve in his body to shove. With effort, he swallowed all of saliva he could get in his mouth, and tried to make words. "Ahum…" Well, monosyllabic sounds was a start.

"Oof -"

Itachi's head snapped up from looking down into Naruto's diamonds. Naruto snapped out of it too, and his eyes flickered around - searching for the sound. "What was that?"

Sasuke - being sneaky and wanting something besides audio for Hinata - was the closest he could be to the situation without rousing suspicion - or so he'd thought. He didn't actually enjoy watching - he hated it, and feared for Naruto's sadness to come. So, alternatively, he'd left the camera at the bottom of the stairs. Which would have been fine, until he tripped on the way up and nearly cascaded to the bottom. _What_ Uchiha tripped? All of them, occasionally. They weren't perfect 24/7. He'd quickly - and a bit more smoothly, embarrassed by his slip - dashed back up.

"It's nothing," Itachi hissed, wishing more deadly curses on his sibling.

"But someone could be breaking into y-Mmph!" Naruto had tried to pull away and turn. His eyes shot open and he struggled, but Itachi forcefully held him still until he relaxed, which was met with Itachi loosening his grip. His hands never left the boy at all. Not wanting him to see Sasuke, and not having any more patience, Itachi did what he'd wanted to do for a very long time. In the most basic possible English, kiss Naruto.

Naruto's hand were still flat against Itachi's front - in his panic he'd tried to push him away, but now they were frozen there. He'd shut his eyes, but most of his other senses were being invaded by this new experience.

Hearing - Nothing. It was completely silent, both of them still.

Scent - Naruto was close enough to get his smell, too. It was totally natural, not a hint of artificial fragrance there. But it was still musky. Pungent and sweet enough to heat up the nose.

Touch - Naruto's palms were pressed - mistakenly, sort of - against Itachi. He'd slammed into Sasuke before when he was pissed off, and this was similar. Smooth and solid. Just like the rest of him. As for Itachi's hands, one was still on Naruto's chin, and the other was now holding the back of his head in place.

Taste - Like nothing else on earth.

Oxygen and a reality check - Currently needed.

"Aaaaah!" Naruto had shoved and shoved and shoved, matched by the stronger and older male, until their mouths were finally separated. Now he was screaming and turning all kinds of red, and we're talking shades never seen on human beings' faces before. Itachi was still trying to hold him still, now more like hold him up, since he was shaking enough to have a seizure, or faint at the very least. "What the crap -!"

"Shush," Itachi slid his hand over his mouth, almost a little annoyed. Naruto's adrenaline often spoke for him, the Uchiha had seen it before. He held him there until he had finally calmed down. At the same time, he'd realized the seriousness of what he'd just done, but he was absorbed now. He'd gotten to do what he'd always wanted to with the blonde, and he wasn't about to let it go like nothing. Knowing Naruto, he wouldn't drop it for anything, either.

"Mmm." Naruto stared expectantly at Itachi, ready to speak without screaming, hopefully. When he moved his hand, Naruto just stared for a couple of seconds in shock, his adrenaline gone. Itachi didn't make a move to get any further away from him, just waited, one hand on his cheek and the other behind his head. Then Naruto tried to make him release his hands, pulling at the one on his chin and trying to force himself backwards, but Itachi only retaliated, and held tighter.

He'd kept it under control since he'd discovered these feelings, and he wasn't holding back now that that control had slipped.

"Itachi, lemme go - " Naruto tried to shove again, but Itachi wasn't letting go. He twisted his chin into another kiss, and Naruto almost forgot about freaking out. So he'd had dreams about kissing Itachi before, but none were like this. Not as good. He never could have dreamed up something amazing like this.

He broke away for just a moment and in his smooth, silky voice asked, "Are you nervous?"

Naruto froze and tried to open his mouth to say yes, but Itachi covered his mouth with his own again. Naruto, a bit stupidly, remembered that kissing was against the rules.

Itachi's hands left their previous positions, and trailed down Naruto's spine. His fighting had resided to a slight struggling, but he had relaxed immensely. He wanted to test the waters more, hoping that Naruto would stay like that.

But he didn't. One of Itachi's hands strayed back in front of him, while the other stayed on the small of his back. Naruto was perfectly fine until Itachi had his hand on the zipper of his jacket. _Then_ he panicked. He jerked his mouth away and half yelled, "Stop it."

Itachi showed no signs of stopping, and the jacket zipper came down.

"I said, stop it!" Naruto's sudden scream and short burst of power was enough to tear them completely away. Itachi seemed to snap out of it, seeing Naruto horrified and zipping his jacket back up. The blonde almost had tears in his eyes. Crap, crap, crap. All Itachi could see now was that precious face's suddenly scared expression, that should have always been smiling. And he'd made it that way.

Naruto was yelling again. "If all you wanted was to take advantage of me while Sasuke and your parents weren't here, I never would have come! I thought you actually cared about me!" Now the tears were flowing. So much for feelings. Apparently he didn't need to say anything and he could get a rejection, or something close enough, in his head.

"Naru-" Itachi tried to move forward into some kind of comfort, but this only caused the blonde to back up three or so more feet.

"No, I'm not listening to you! Don't try to tell me that isn't what you were doing, I've heard it before!" And he had. He'd had male "friends" before, that weren't Sasuke, Kiba, Shika, or any of that gang, and some of them had tried to do what Itachi had just attempted, too. Most of the time, they'd gotten much further, but he wouldn't let Itachi do it, not when he actually loved him so much.

Itachi didn't say anything this time, and didn't move. He could only think of how much he was going to hate himself for the rest of his life. This was not just physical attraction. He'd almost ripped in half - which was saying a lot, for an Uchiha - when he saw Naruto's fear. That wasn't lust. No, that was never the reason, it was an add on. The real reasons were everything they'd experienced earlier. He loved Naruto, he'd do anything for him. Those thoughts made him try to talk again. "I'm sorry."

"I don't care if your sorry," Naruto bit his lip and wiped his eyes. "I'm not staying." He turned on his heels and dashed back to the table, where his bag was. He threw it over his shoulder and headed for the door, completely unwilling to say anything else to Itachi.

But in his own head, he wondered why it had to happen that way, and why he couldn't make himself turn around, go back in, and explain how he really felt, hoping to get a similar response.

* * *

Poor 'Tachi. :( Incase you didn't read above, this ain't the end!


	3. Chapter 3

THIS TOOK FOREVER. MAJOR WRITERS BLOCK. I LEFT IT ALONE FOR MONTHS BEFORE I HAD INSIPIRATION, FORGIVE ME.

The title should finally tie in to a slightly funny extent. Near the end. Through the middle and beginning, things are bad. More Neji, and Sasuke getting to do some ass kicking. Itachi getting to…well, read xD.

Notes:

This is mostly why the chapter had an M rating. The other two chapters were nothing compared.

EdSpikeSessyGirl, my Hinata is not as cool as the one from TGILC. :( She's just matching her usual character. D: Also, for everyone, Neji is Only a tiny bit more than a year younger than Itachi. He's a junior, so he's not Naruto's age, he's considerably older. Seventeen. I just wanted to clear that up before people were like, "WHAT!? Neji's Naruto's age, why would he…" So, enjoy.

Warnings: Bad things, I wouldn't want to spoil anything. M-rated. Don't read if you're uncomfortable with two men and…stuff. Figure this out.

* * *

"Sa-Sakura?" Naruto was currently begging into his cell phone, after hearing the girl's greeting.

"Naruto? Hey, what's the matter? You sound -" She started, straightening herself and pressing her ear closer to the phone on the other end.

"I know, I know," Naruto was still a little breathless, trying to recover from what had just happened. "Sakura, if it's not to much to ask, I need a place to sleep. I'm not asking you to put up with me or anything, I'll stay in your basement, if you want. I just can't go home right now." His words were messy and rushed.

She pondered what to say in her head. She'd been Naruto's friend since near the end of elementary school, and he wasn't exactly what you'd call a risky male to let sleep in your house. After, oh say, five years of his clumsy, good natured attitude in the background, she'd know better. Even her parents thought so, but better to keep him a secret anyway. Besides that, if he needed this, she could help him. After trying to get her hooked up with Sasuke, (although it was unsuccessful,) she'd be willing to do just about anything he needed help with. "You can sleep in my room on the floor," She said in a stern voice, "If you tell me what happened tonight when you get here, because it was something bad."

Naruto chewed on his lip and scratched his head. "Alright," he managed, regretfully. He'd either have to make something up or trust Sakura with the truth. Maybe talking through his problem would make things better, but he could only hope. "Thanks."

"You know where I live, right? It's not a long walk from the school. Where are you?"

"Near the school," Naruto lied through his teeth. Oh well, he'd just get there a little later than she expected. He didn't want to make her suggest, 'go to someone closer.' Neither Shikamaru nor Kiba would take this lightly, and they'd drill for explanations that he couldn't give. He needed a girl, if he had to risk saying anything.

"I'll leave the front door unlocked, just be quiet when you come up, okay? My parents will be in their rooms for the night by the time you get here, probably watching TV, so unless you fall down the stairs -"

"Thanks, Sakura. Really, I'll make it up to you somehow." Naruto interrupted knowingly before she could go much further.

She smiled and sighed, and they hung up the phones simultaneously.

* * *

"If you go back upstairs without saying a word, I won't kill you."

Sasuke just looked daggers at his brothers backside, unmoved by the statement. Very funny. "I'm not going to let you sulk all night, and seeing how Naruto left, I'd assume things didn't go well, without watching the tape." He growled. Itachi remained resting on his elbows against the counter. So much for something nice to give Hinata, though that was the least of worries. He probably wouldn't hear from Naruto outside of necessary school contact for days, and there was no chance he'd ever step foot in his house again.

"You should have taken my word for it." Sasuke mumbled, adding on, since his brother wasn't cooperating. He should have at least_ tried_ calling him, or calling Iruka, to make sure he got home okay, or make some kind of amends.

"Go away." Itachi seethed, pondering whether or not to be angry about him for slipping down the stairs earlier. At least it would give him something to do other than despise himself, which he'd undoubtedly do for the rest of his lifespan in some corner of his mind.

"I know how you hate having to listen to your stupid younger brother," Sasuke spat, "But I guess I could grace you with this." Sasuke was tempted to tackle him, but he'd lose in a physical fight, being younger and not fully grown like Itachi was. "Naruto loves you."

Itachi paused his string of mental curses on Sasuke.

Sasuke watched a reaction that only he would have known to look for. Complete and instant stillness from Itachi. Now he'd hear out the rest. Sasuke watched expectantly for his older brother to turn, and finally, after ten long seconds of quiet, he did. "Was that suppose to be funny?" He deadpanned.

"No." Sasuke rejoined, a tad less pissed off this time. Good, a response. "But you have to look at it from his point of view. That's why he was so freaked out. I think he planned on telling you, but then he thought that all you wanted was -" Sasuke was not getting to the point Itachi wanted.

"Shut up," Itachi ordered, taken aback. "It wasn't a joke?"

Sasuke sighed, "No. It wasn't a joke." He searched Itachi's eyes for some kind of recognition, but nothing came, not at first. He was trying to put pieces together. He'd been right. Near the end when Naruto walked out, he was sure he was mistaken.

Finally, his body's tense stopped and his thoughts gone, he spoke. "Then I suppose I ruined everything."

"Give it time." Sasuke added, trying to be comforting and failing. Time wasn't going to fix anything - Naruto was pretty much a grudge holder, though he didn't take action on his grudges. Itachi didn't need time - he needed opportunity.

* * *

If Iruka had known that he'd been entering someone else's house at night with only their daughter's permission - no, actually, he didn't know what Iruka would have done. That was how scary the thought was. At least he wasn't really _breaking_ in - the front door was unlocked, just like Sakura had said.

He prayed to any and every god his clumsiness wouldn't come into play as he snuck up the stairs, and towards the cracked door with the light on. He also hoped it was the right door, and it was. Sakura had stepped half way out and dragged him in, literally, by the collar.

"Sa-Sakura, choking…" He gasped, stumbling sideways.

"Shhhh, they're downstairs, I thought they'd be in bed." Sakura hissed under her breath, nearly slamming her door.

"They didn't see me?" It was more of a question to himself. He looked down and silently thanked his feet, which had actually done some good. For once. Sakura didn't bother answering, since the response was obvious. Currently, she was summing up the boy in front of her.

"You're late." It was to avoid saying what she really thought. She was louder now, since her door was shut. He was a mess. His spikes had gone flat, his clothes appeared to be messy and out of order, still in the right places but not orderly, he was sweating, and his face was red like he'd been crying. Not a state you often saw Naruto in, with the exception of the messiness.

"Oh, right, I was further from the school than I thought." He grinned and stared around her room absently, hoping to ward off questions from her. There was a sleeping bag on the floor on the other side of her bed, so if anyone opened the door, they'd have to go back there to see him sleeping. Other than that, her room was pretty basic. Average for a girl her age.

"Than you thought?" Her comment was a tad sarcastic. There was no way the blonde was getting off easy.

"More or less," He tried, scratching the back of his head. "Thanks again, Sakura." He offered another smile, but Sakura still wasn't buying it.

"No way, Uzumaki. I won't be charmed by your smiles into forgetting the promise." She smirked at him, and he groaned. "You either tell me, or I call my parents and say you broke in." She really wouldn't. But what Naruto didn't know wouldn't hurt him. She wanted her info. After the groan, though, there was an entirely different expression on his face. The opposite of a nervous smile.

"Don't tell anyone, alright? Nobody." He stared her down, willing to leave before he told Sakura anything if she showed signs of sarcasm about it.

"I won't." The response came hesitantly, but sincerely. She'd never seen the goofy boy look so serious about anything. His blue eyes were dark and cloudy. She loped over to her twin bed and sat down, and Naruto proceeded to his new bed on the other side of it and did the same. He'd gotten comfortable, lying on his stomach elbows down, with his hands holding his head.

Naruto began without further prompting. What did he have to lose, anyway? With the exception of her close friends, no one would believe her if she started gossiping. He had a feeling she wouldn't at all, but he thought of a precaution. He wouldn't say "Itachi," "Sasuke," or "Uchiha." Even Sasuke was a big enough hint. The boys were almost always associated with each other. "See…There's this person. In girl language, I have a huge crush on them." Naruto watched Sakura's green eyes widen, and she opened her mouth to interrupt.

"I knew it."

"What?" Naruto nearly jumped, hoping he didn't hear what he dreaded.

"You've always got that look in your eyes! I always, _always_ knew there was someone!" Sakura clasped her hands together in front of her chest, completely forgetting the situation at hand. At first Naruto sighed in relief. She hadn't guessed who. Then he tried to quiet her down, but her squeals had ended too late.

"Sweetie, are you on the phone?" Her mom. Outside the door. Naruto ducked and hid up against the side of the bed, and Sakura jerked her cell phone, placed handily on her nightstand, to he ear.

"Yeah. Sorry mom." She called, but the door came halfway open. Naruto shook and held his hands over his mouth. He was sure he hadn't done anything this bad in his life, at least by Iruka "bad" standards. He didn't dare look.

"We're going to bed, asleep by eleven, alright?" Naruto could tell the woman was smiling, not at all suspicious. Sakura looked either very calm, or her mother was very use to jumpiness.

"Yes mom. Goodnight." The door couldn't have shut quickly enough. Naruto peered up over the edge of Sakura's bed, and they both let out the breath they were holding. "This had better be a good story," She muttered, turning back to him. He whined at her comment before going on. He settled back against the sleeping bag in the same position, and a new emotion burned in his eyes. Something like searing mental pain.

"But…Something happened. They don't know a thing about my feelings, we're friends. Sort of. Not exactly, but we've spent a lot of time together." Sakura watched normally bright eyes get duller and greyer. He was narrating the story in his head, far ahead of the words that came out of his mouth. Or worse - he had a mental picture. "They invited me over, to have dinner and study tonight. I was really hoping that I'd get the courage to tell them."

Sakura just nodded him on, sitting cross-legged and staring.

"Then, some things happened. Turns out, they didn't really care about me at all. They were just taking advantage of me. I was planning on staying the night there, but I couldn't, and I couldn't go back to Iruka. He'd flip." Explaining why he "Couldn't go home," earlier.

Sakura didn't respond at first, but Naruto had brought his story to a close. After a few moments of Sakura's pondering, she leaned forward on her elbows in a position equal to his. "It's another guy, isn't it?"

Naruto's eyes shut and his hand slipped down, chin landing on his arms. "Right." But his eyes opened when Sakura leaned down and messed his hair up even more, comfortingly.

"No. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks." She was smiling sweetly, sincere and confident in her answer.

"I know. Thank you. Much….But, that's not quite the problem." Naruto chewed on his lip, wondering if the earlier words "taking of advantage of" and Itachi's age would be enough for Sakura to put together. He hoped not, but his hope was futile. "They're….four years older than I am. Eighteen. Legal."

Sakura was bright, and it didn't take her long to have an attitude change. Her eyes widened and she straightened up. "So you mean, all he wanted was to take advantage of you? He did? How -" The words caught in her throat and refused to come up. Not a very good subject to bring up in context. New words got passed them. "Who do -"

"I can't say, so don't ask. I don't want anything to happen to him for it." Naruto murmured. "Legal, remember?"

She just leaned down and messed with his hair more, since he looked like he was in serious need of comfort. "That's selfless," Naruto just half shrugged. "So, you must really love them a lot." She looked to gauge his reaction, and it wasn't controlled this time.

"Doesn't matter." He managed.

"That's not true! You have to tell -"

She began, but Naruto interrupted her, almost loudly enough to cause her parents to get suspicious, though not quite. "It doesn't matter," He ground out. "Not to him." He shifted and turned his body around, so he lay on the sleeping bag face up. "I just have to forget all about it. I'll find somebody else." But the last words were about as convincing as a child telling his parents he didn't steal from the cookie jar, with ten times more sadness.

"You don't want to." Sakura stated bluntly.

"…No. But think about it, Sakura. If someone did that to you, could you ever believe them if they told you otherwise?"

She watched him cover his eyes with his arm, and truthfully replied, "No. I couldn't."

"And wouldn't you move on?" Naruto questioned.

This time, she didn't agree with him. "No." Naruto looked up, surprised by her answer. "No, not if I really loved them, and knew that I wasn't going to find anyone better for me. Think about it." She rolled over now, so she was looking away from him, and dully added, "Set the alarm on your phone so you can be out of here before my parents get up. If you leave by seven, you should make it."

Naruto watched her backside, but she showed no signs of turning back around. "Alright. Thanks Sakura." He let her comment go, but he was thanking her for advice besides on when to set his alarm.

* * *

It was still almost half an hour to first class, but getting to the school early meant being away from the sulking Itachi, who would come later, or not at all. He skipped too, sometimes. A self signed sick note was legal for him, anyway. Sasuke was almost completely alone, with the exception of a few other early-goers, and he was leaning up against his locker with cell phone in hand. He was wondering what had happened with Naruto, since Iruka didn't call with court charges the night before. Naruto had never been _this_ early, but he was usually punctual, and if he didn't come near five minutes till, Sasuke would be willing to skip, and drag Itachi along to find him.

He flipped open his phone and checked for calls, since it was on silent and he wouldn't have known, but still no Naruto. There was a new text message, from an equally familiar number. Hinata.

Sasuke stared in what was for an Uchiha, horror, but it was really just a slight eyebrow raise, after reading the message.

_Sasuke,_

_Please meet me by your locker early. It's about Naruto_, _he might be in danger._

And in the absence of her usual, hesitantly typed, "I love-yous," and heart symbols, Sasuke knew it was beyond serious. He looked around, already at his locker. He probably should have checked for that message earlier, but there was no fighting it now. After a few anxious minutes, the sound of shoes hitting concrete came quickly, running down the halls.

Before he could even turn to look, Hinata was in front of him. She was already in an unusual panic mode. Tears streamed down from lavender eyes, and she was trying to wipe them away, her embarrassment peeking through her panic. Sasuke realized he'd never seen her cry - she'd been shy, but always content, and not easily unnerved. "Sa-Sasuke, I'm so thankful you're here…I wo-worried you wouldn't see the message in ta-time, it's-"

He cut her off, just a usual that came with her being flustered. He stroked her shoulder with one hand, and the top of her head with the other. A school safe, childish gesture, for safety if any staff member was watching. Heads turned, and Sasuke could have sworn he heard fan girls throwing fits. If it wasn't for the current danger that Naruto might be in, and for Hinata crying, he would have smirked. She was considerably shorter, so he leaned down closer to her. "It's alright, just calm down first."

She nodded and tried to take deep breaths, and Sasuke aided in wiping her eyes. After a few moments, she started to talk, a bit quieter. She seemed to be deliberately lowering her voice. "It was last night." She whimpered. "I heard Neji -" She paused, since just hearing the name was enough to get the anger to hit Sasuke's expression, full force. "He was talking about…about," Her thought up words were getting ahead of what was coming out, and she shivered.

"It's okay, really." Sasuke cooed, sensing her apprehension.

Suddenly the words began spilling, but she didn't finish her thought straight away. She started new. "Neji was on the phone last night. At first, he was just talking about numbers…he said four or five. I…he was talking about other guys, and then he - he mentioned Naruto, and I listened more…" She paused momentarily, and started to lose it again. "He's going to hurt Naruto!" She finally managed.

Sasuke was putting the pieces together before she even said what she did next, that, and, what to what extent "hurt" was. He already knew. "I thought…he'd be okay. If it was just Neji, he'd be able to get away just fine…no problem…but he said four or five…Others…" The girl went into slight hysterics again, and more tears started to flow. "I don't want them to do that to Naruto…" She gasped, subtly begging Sasuke to do something. He, however, already had his entire plan set up.

"Hinata," He murmured, lifting his hand from her head. "When?"

"He said before school today…" She whispered. "I should have told you last night. I just worried that Neji would find out, and change something, and I wouldn't know…" She stopped again, Sasuke's fingers against her mouth, a gentle silencing.

"Don't beat yourself up over something like that. Without you, I wouldn't even know what was happening." She nodded, and Sasuke continued. "Don't worry about it. I'll help Naruto, but I need you to go into class and say I'm sick, alright?" Her eyes suddenly widened.

"How are you going to do it by yourself!? If there are a lot more people there, and Neji, you'll get beat up, and I don't want you to get hurt…You could tell a supervisor, and -" This time, she stopped herself. That wouldn't do any good. Neji would come right back.

Sasuke shook his head. "I won't be alone. I'm getting someone better than anyone else to help me." He gave her a quick squeeze, and she nodded. "Don't worry," He added again, under his breath. She nodded again, and headed off towards class.

After she was gone, Sasuke lost his mask of control he was using for her. He bolted down the hallways, ignoring the strange glances, lost in rage at his girl's elder cousin, and fear for his best friend.

He was getting Itachi, full speed, for here came his "opportunity."

* * *

He was at the back of the campus grounds, leaning up against the far wall of his large high school, much earlier than he'd ever been there before. Since the first class wasn't until nine and he'd woken up at Sakura's at seven, (then was shuffled out for fear of exposure,) it was still a long time before he needed to do anything.

Besides that, the last thing he wanted to do was go inside that building and be exposed to Itachi. He'd see him, no question, and even though it was cowardly, and he knew he couldn't avoid going to school without Iruka having mental issues, he was going to avoid him at all costs for as long as possible.

But he was still hurting.

He wondered what Itachi's real intentions were. He couldn't see himself talking what the Uchiha had done as a gag, but an accident seemed more applicable. Though, it would have only been accidental, or a mentally, not physically driven occurrence, if there had been some kind of _feelings_ there. And that didn't make any sense at all, so Naruto just had to go with the spur of the moment opportunity to take advantage of being alone.

He was going to pretend somewhere in his head that wasn't the case.

"Why are you out here so early?" A voice broke through his thoughts that was all too familiar, but the last time he'd heard it, he'd heard it in whispers, and the recollection of yesterday was enough to make him sick. He never heard anything from Neji, and he seemed calm and cool like he usually was. Like Sasuke, but there wasn't much of a hidden sweet side to him, unlike his best friend. Still - aloofness was necessary.

"I should be asking you that," He responded, but he quickly regretted saying anything, since his voice shot through an octave. Apparently he couldn't reassure himself.

The Hyugga made no attempt to tell him why. "All alone, too. Why isn't Sasuke or Sakura with you? Did anything happen?" Naruto wasn't sure if his sympathy was real or fake. He was either good at this, or sincere.

"Not with them, no. They're probably still on their way here."

The other was quiet for a moment, then moved from his side-front position to Naruto to being directly in front of him, and coming closer. "It's not the best idea to be alone back here in the earlier morning, especially if you're a scrawny freshman." There was a smirk on his face now, and Naruto met it with a sneer. So much for sincerity. He didn't try to get away - Neji would get a hell of a fight no matter what kind of moves he made. When he didn't stop, Naruto lowered himself into what was like a low human pounce, and clenched his fists. He was on the verge of decking the Hyugga. There was no game this time that he'd been called to participate in with a straight face, so likewise, no rules.

Suddenly, someone else had his arm in a deadlock, the one he was originally preparing to swing.

Naruto swung his head around, and some other, unidentified and unknown male Neji's age was holding that arm back. Naruto then made the attempt to pull his other arm around and knock this knew person's teeth out, but that arm was being held back as well, by yet another male unknown to him.

Two, well, he thought he could handle that. Three, when two were holding his arms…He still had his feet. His hope, his clumsy feet. He threw one to one side and it slammed into the man on his right, but he didn't falter and that one was jerked back into place by yet another man. Naruto didn't even bother to move his last free leg, for that was held in place too. This was planned. He'd set this entire thing up…and Naruto had been in just the wrong place.

All four of his limbs were jerked back simultaneously, and the four men pinned him against the concrete wall. Neji was in his same spot, a pleased smirk twisted on his face. "Very good…"

"Don't." Naruto finally took in the reality of what was about to happen to him. Begging was the only option he'd have left. He could scream…but what reaction would that draw out from his captors?

Neji just came forward, reaching into his pant pockets for something. "Please, Don't, I'll do anything else…" What was free on Naruto's body began to tremble, violently. He tried to force himself from his holders, thinking with sheer force he could get away, to no avail. The men holding him were probably paid for this, and probably built for holding back a freshman.

What slid out of Neji's pocket was black at first, and a sharp, silvery metal came where his hand stopped it's grip. "No! A-" Naruto opened his mouth to scream, forgetting his reasoning from earlier, but Neji had swept forward and shoved two fingers in his mouth.

"Bite me and regret it," Neji hissed, although his face was still pleased. He was like a sadistic cat that had just caught the mouse. Naruto didn't bite him, he didn't want to know what else he'd have to regret, beyond what was happening already.

Naruto shut his lids and physically forced his eyes to absorb the tears that had formed. He wasn't going to let Neji watch him cry, but he didn't know how long he'd last, either. The bronze-haired Hyugga slid his fingers from the blonde's mouth and sucked on them himself, pleased by Naruto's silence. He forced the smaller chin up so they were locking eyes, and bit down hard on his lips, drawing blood.

Naruto attempted to grit his teeth since his lip barrier was broken, but Neji was already taking full advantage of his open mouth, and doing anything but behaving was out of the question, unless he wanted more torture.

When Neji was through ravaging his mouth, he started at the blonde's throat and the knife came into Naruto's view. His trembling got harder, if possible, but the knife only tore the front of his shirt open. It didn't touch any flesh.

Naruto, now that his mouth was free, bit down on his own bloody lip. He'd whimpered, and that was giving Neji satisfaction. His captor had found a sensitive spot on his neck, and was now abusing it. "There?" He murmured, sliding his hand in a straight downward line on Naruto's bare chest.

Naruto didn't answer, but he couldn't hold back his moan, this time, although he was ashamed of himself. Neji bit down harshly and sucked at the sensitive skin, leaving a mark. Naruto thought absently that he'd have to borrow cover-up from Sakura if he came out of this alive.

Thinking of Sakura only made him think of Iruka, then Sasuke, which made him think of Itachi, and the tears started to pour. _Would_ he come out of this alive? What else would Neji _do_ when he had finished with his body?

"Aah-!" Naruto threw his head to one side of the concrete when Neji's hand dipped below the waistband of his pants and boxers underneath. He didn't fight the sound anymore. He didn't think anymore. He let his brain succumb to uselessness.

"Mine…" Neji purred. "All mine…"

Naruto's lower body clothing still mostly intact, a solitary finger made it's way around and the most ultimate form of violation overtook, making his legs nearly give out, despite already being trapped. "Nnnh!"

He slid the knife back into his pocket, but Naruto wasn't paying attention. "You're behaving very nicely, Naruto" Neji mumbled, as if that was some kind of explanation.

And in the moment when Neji let down his guard to concentrate on putting the blade back into it's plastic case in his pocket, the younger of the Uchiha brother's found his moment to strike. At first it was all colors to Naruto's blurry eyes, but after a few moments his orbs had processed what was going on. The black and white mass was Sasuke, and he'd slammed his entire body weight into the unprepared Neji, who even though he was bigger, faltered being unready and so relaxed. For now, he was only out of the way.

One of the men dropped Naruto's arm in shock, but he was still too out of it to take advantage. Somewhere in some corner of his mind that had deemed the situation hopeless, relief was starting to grow. He heard a cracking sound beside him, like someone cracking their knuckles in preparation for a fight, and with hardly a second glance, all four of his limbs were released and Neji's hired men fled. The blonde stumbled forward, his balance already lost.

But before he could fall over, a blanket fell around his shoulders and wrapped around what was revealed on him. He was pulled against something much warmer and a little less firm compared to the concrete wall, and he nuzzled his head against it. He was too far gone to act like anything but a doll.

He heard a loud yell, and immediately deemed it Sasuke. He tried to turn his head, but this was much too comfortable, and his brain was still too lost.

Neji had retaliated to Sasuke almost immediately. He tore forward into the smaller Uchiha, trying to get back to Naruto since he'd previously shoved him one way, but he quickly realized the blonde was free and he'd have to go through someone even bigger to get his pleasure back. He decided to take out his new rage on Sasuke, and he was doing so now. The blade had exited his pocket once again, and Sasuke was precisely ducking his head and missing it, waiting for an opening. He was a little worried. He'd always been precise and athletic, but he'd never fought anyone like this before.

Sasuke was a beat too late, and luckily it was Neji's fist and not the knife that caught him. The pressure to his head made him skid, and with one hand nursing his skull, he changed tactics and ducked his head to Neji's stomach and pushed more weight into him, hoping to knock him over. He didn't have the bodyweight to, but he had the coordination, and Neji tripped over the lithe boy's feet. They both came down, but Sasuke had ripped the knife from his hand in the confusion.

There ending position was both on the ground, Sasuke on top and pinning him down with his knees. The brave Freshman even held the knife to the back of the Hyugga's throat. He snarled under his breath, "Stay the hell away from Naruto, or I'll really rip you open."

The older didn't respond, So Sasuke held the blunt side of the hand knife to his throat. "Leave."

Sasuke couldn't see it, but a smirk fell across his victim's face. His capture flipped around, and Sasuke really had no intention of ripping his neck open to be in juvenile hall or worse - be known for murder - his entire life. The Hyugga threw Sasuke off of him, and he skidded on his side a few good feet, growling at the new burns on his bare arms.

Meanwhile, the older of the brothers was trying to bring Naruto's coherent thought back. He tried his hardest not to look at Neji or Sasuke. Seeing either of them in this situation would have made him snap, and as Naruto often thought, it was considered child abuse for him to so much as touch the Hyugga.

Naruto was trembling and hiding any and all parts of his body that he could. Itachi laid his hands on the top of his head and tried to get him to stop without talking - assuming Naruto didn't understand who was holding him - but there was no stopping him. Finally, he decided to talk to him. No clue what to say…what did you say? Obviously he wasn't alright and that was a stupid question, but he had to ask something…"Are you bleeding anywhere?" He thought of the knife.

But only hearing this voice was enough to make the recollection of the past events, Sasuke's hisses of pain, and the night before come rushing into his head. He pushed away and freed his body completely, and Itachi moved with no resistance, this time. The blanket Itachi had already been holding slipped off, and he spun around, searching for Neji. But all that movement at once made him about ready to fall again. Itachi had to hold him up by his arms so he wouldn't collapse.

Sasuke threw the knife off far in one direction. He didn't want to use it, and he didn't want Neji to get his hands on it. The Hyugga managed to tackle him, and Sasuke didn't have the strength to get him off. He'd have to settle for knocking him out somehow, but for now he was taking a beating. Neji would probably succeed in knocking him out first if he didn't get it together. Sasuke covered his face with both of his palms and Neji's fists did less damage, but Neji just jerked his arms away. Sasuke vaguely remembered Itachi telling him that a hard enough strike to the vein in the back of the neck would knock you out.

Sasuke reached one arm that had been tossed aside around Neji's neck, pulled his hand in a chopping position back, and hit Neji with all the strength he had. The older boy's eyes fell shut against his will. Sasuke, exhausted and beat up, crawled out from underneath him, Neji fell face against the ground.

Naruto, unable to go back to the blanket, much less Itachi, was just standing still and trying to recompose himself. He fisted the two halves of his shirt and tried to pull them closer together, but the damage was obvious enough, and Itachi had a hard time looking at all. The part that made Itachi want to maul the only unconscious Junior was that Naruto's neck and collar bone, stopping near the top of his chest, sported several purplish blossoms. Love bites.

Besides that, the still noticeable yet greatly receding "problem" at his hips.

"You alright?" Sasuke stood up and half stumbled towards them, addressing Naruto. Itachi observed the damage, but didn't try to help him. In his brotherly head, he knew the last thing Sasuke wanted was help, and they both didn't want to worry Naruto with someone else's problems.

The blonde didn't make a sound. He tried to calm his own trembling, squeezing the torn fabric of his shirt until his knuckles turned as white as Sasuke's usual skin.

Itachi lifted the discarded blanket off the ground, and as if the night before had been completely forgotten, Naruto did the opposite of shy away when Itachi offered to wrap it around him again. He pressed against Itachi's side, and both of the Uchiha came to comfort the suddenly crying mess.

"We should probably get him home," Sasuke offered, rubbing circles on his best friends shoulders, Itachi stroking the top of his head.

But like Itachi's voice beforehand, the thought of going home to Iruka in this state was enough to make him scream his protest, and he did so. He pulled his head away just slightly from his newly found pillow, and stared up at Itachi with horror is his eyes. "Don't take me _home!_ Iruka could die of a heart attack!" He shrieked through sobs.

The brothers sighed in unison in relief, Naruto back to just about as normal as he could be in the situation, and finally talking. Sasuke offered something much more suitable. "Let's take him to our place first." He glanced at Neji who was still on the ground, satisfied with himself. The Hyugga would wake up pissed off, and unless he wanted another beating, he wasn't coming back.

Naruto nodded vigorously, back against Itachi's side. He started to think normally again, his mind returning to the real world. He ignored any and all thoughts of last night's dinner date, and tried his hardest to think of this as compensation.

* * *

"The swelling isn't going down at all." Naruto muttered, pressing the cloth wrapped baggie full of ice back against his neck. Itachi was sitting beside him in their living room, and both were trying not to look at each other. The awkwardness of being together had finally come back, full force.

Sasuke had gotten him a new shirt, something that wouldn't have looked so suspicious to Iruka, since Naruto was constantly borrowing clothes - Iruka knew well enough that Naruto's clumsiness often resulted in soiled shirts, so he never asked any more. "Hinata thought that would at least make them look more like minor bruises…" Sasuke sat across from them, referring to Hinata's non-stop cell phone abuse from earlier. Sasuke hadn't answered at first - he knew he'd have to make a lot of calming her down, and he didn't want to have to explain out loud in front of Naruto a relive of the events - But then he remembered that she'd also worried about his safety, so if he didn't answer, she may of thought he was unconscious or something, and that would have resulted in unnecessary calling of the police, or worse. His _mother_. So he picked up, tried to explain as non-graphically as possible, and asked about the hickeys.

"They're still the same." Naruto replied, checking again and nodding.

"Then I'm going to go raid my mom's make up." Sasuke stated, giving up on the ice.

"Your Mom's skin is just as pale as yours." Naruto grimaced, knowing that when he got home, Iruka would _definitely_ ask, if there were smudgy white marks all over his neck. He thought a covering shirt would be fine, but he'd eventually have to take that off, and he didn't want to risk Iruka seeing them, especially after hiding them.

"I'll find something closer to your color up there," He stood up, headed for the stairs, and once out of Naruto's sideways glance, hit Itachi's shoulder lightly in a way that screamed, "and-I'll-take-extra-long-so-you-two-can-make-up-and-have-a-moment."

Since they'd brought Naruto home with them, Itachi hadn't said a word, though he really was trying. It was hard for an Uchiha to think of an apology besides, "I'm sorry," but that hadn't cut it the night before. He'd never been put in this kind of situation before, so he was really racking his brain. Besides an apology - what did you say for comfort?

Naruto, on the other hand, was trying to forget everything involving both this morning and his experience last night. He'd made the decision…How much more could he possibly be hurt by it's response? He was going to say it, going to tell him.

He started off with something different, though, for if he just blurted things out now, Itachi might have thought he was insane. More so than usual. He was trying to think of how he could possibly say thank you. He went with his instinct to just say it. He pulled the same blanket from before tighter around him, and leaned back against the couch instead of sitting up. "Thanks."

"For what?" He asked, wondering if he hadn't just hallucinated.

"Well, for helping me back there." Naruto laughed nervously, but it seemed to be forced. Something burned in his eyes and rested on the tip of his tongue that was far from a "thank you."

Itachi couldn't hide his Uchiha sarcasm as much as he wanted to. He couldn't let Naruto feel guilty. Someone who _always_ covered things with guilt and smiles. "Did you think if we'd seen you, we would have just walked on by?" Itachi grumbled.

"I knew you'd help me…But, I just didn't think anyone would find us back there. Hopelessness just took over." Naruto replied, sounding relieved to an even greater extent. "I guess it would have for anyone."

"If I was your size, I suppose I would have felt a little helpless, as well." At first the Uchiha smiled, but then it faded. Naruto had found no humor, nor shown any anger at the statement regarding his size.

Naruto had just curled up tighter. Itachi wasn't clueless…He knew this had to do with something besides Neji, and earlier. This was something else. Thanks to his little brother's revelations, Itachi sensed exactly what it was. It wasn't Neji anymore - it was him. He was the pain. The violation. Naruto's thoughts had strayed back to the previous night.

Itachi knew if he tried to tell him the truth, Naruto would only be more offended - a user _and_ a liar. Why would he believe? No sensible person would have.

"Itachi, I freaked out last night…Mostly because," Naruto started loudly, "'Cause…" The older Uchiha just turned and listened. Was he really going to say it? If Sasuke hadn't been lying…"Because, Hah," Naruto shook his head back and forth angrily, probably thinking of the best way to word it. "So, so, maybe it's really stupid, but, I got upset because I, Erggggh." He slapped his hands to the top of his head.

"Say whatever you need to."

"Because I liii-" Naruto bit his tongue but finally just let it go. Like he'd assured himself before, how much more harm could it do? It didn't even matter how he felt. "-Ike you. Love you."

His little brother had been telling the truth. Itachi's face hadn't changed, and Naruto took that as a bad sign. He lowered his head some and murmured, "Stupid, right?" He nervously rubbed his shoulder with the opposite hand, but Itachi reached towards him and held it instead.

"-Tachi…"

"How much of this would you believe?" He asked quickly, starring slightly down at the blonde. "I cannot name it, but this is what I know. I'm attached to you, just like anyone who meets you and likes you is. I would ever want to see you be upset or hurt, and your smiles light up a room." The words were almost Sasuke-esque. Probably how the younger of them had told Hinata his feelings - blunt, truthful, and awkward. Maybe he was telling him the truth, too, and his reasons for loving Itachi were all too similar in category. However, he didn't listen, just pulled his hand away.

"I wouldn't believe you feel the same, not after - " The words "last night" got caught up in his throat, and he didn't bother to finish. Itachi knew the exact words, anyway. Helping him earlier was plenty of compensation, but this was…mean.

"Well…I would have said it was a convenient excuse." Itachi chuckled, and Naruto glared in confusion. An excuse? For what? Itachi began explaining before Naruto could answer. "You remember that noise we heard?"

"Oh, yeah. Hey, what was that?" Naruto let everything else go for just a moment, all of his sadness, and thought of that thumping and sliding he'd heard from upstairs. Itachi noticed how he seemed to let go, too…Naruto was probably the only person he'd ever know who could be raped or close to one hour, and be back to normal the next. He wasn't hard to fix.

"Sasuke."

At first Naruto continued to look confused, then his mouth fell open. "He was _there_? _Listening?_" Listening to him say all of those things that your best male friend was certainly _not_ supposed to hear? Why would he possibly want to be there when…

"I tried, believe me. I can't do much to stop him without mother getting angry." Itachi muttered, but abruptly noticed Naruto was panicking.

"He heard me say all that! Gah!" Naruto tugged on his hair slightly, his eyes wide and his expression still distraught with an embarrassed fear. "He'll laugh at me! He was probably there eavesdropping so he could blackmail me with it!" The blonde started shaking his head back and forth, but Itachi rested his hands against the smaller one's placed on Naruto's scalp, and slid them away, Naruto's force falling immediately.

Best not to tell him Sasuke's actual uses for the information…or the tape. "Besides the point, Hinata doesn't play volleyball. He was there because he worried about you, is all. I lied." Itachi clasped Naruto's hands together and held them with both of his own in front of them. Hand-Sandwich.

"He was right to worry, wasn't he?" Naruto was letting the words out quietly now, almost afraid - not afraid, upset to say them. He kept his eyes on their mingled hands and did not dare look up. Itachi's eyes would undoubtedly make him pass out, if anything could tie that knot right now. The Uchiha dropped one of Naruto's hands and using both of his own, stroked fingertips one at a time.

Naruto's concentration remained glued to the movements, while his face changed colored and his body fought off little shivers. "Maybe distracting me from Sasuke was one thing, but that went far beyond." His voice mirrored his physical struggle.

"I know." Equally quiet. Itachi traced little, unidentifiable patterns on Naruto's palm. The blonde swallowed air, then started to tug his hand away. He half turned his torso and yanked on his hand, but Itachi drew him back - this time from behind. The elder Uchiha's arm curled around his shoulders, and he drew him tightly into his front. The same two hands that had been dancing before remained together, off to one side.

"Itachi." Naruto tried to make it sound like a demand, a warning, anything but a breathy whisper - and it had come out just the way he'd hoped to avoid. His head as telling him to stop, but his heart was telling him otherwise, and Naruto had no concept of "mind over matter." Itachi…maybe he had gone too far. But purposely? Just to hurt him? Taking advantage of him…? Those couldn't be the reasons.

"I'm sorry."

Naruto knew that took courage to muster. One thing he realized about Uchiha…they didn't apologize. Sasuke didn't, and until then, Itachi didn't. Naruto clutched the fabric at the back of Itachi's shirt, pulling and twisting. "As much as I tried to reassure myself, I couldn't have stayed away from you long." The blonde murmured.

"Nervous?"

"_What?_"

"Are. You. Nervous." Itachi tried to hide is blatant amusement, and failed miserably. It hardly sounded like a question. Maybe it came with happiness, or relief. Maybe he'd been killing to do this for a while. Naruto thought of Neji, and that day at lunch. He'd undoubtedly seen that.

Naruto was quiet for less than two seconds before confidently responding, "Nope." Itachi's hand, that had previously been attached to Naruto's, made it's way to the small of the blonde's back, where he continued drawing small patterns. Naruto shifted a little.

"Nervous?"

"No." Itachi's hand didn't hesitate this time. The moment he heard the N, his hand was traveling up Naruto's spine and around his face to his jaw. Naruto shivered, just a little.

"Nervous?"

"No…" Itachi lifted Naruto's chin just slightly. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut.

"What's wrong?"

"Uhm…" Naruto's eye lids lifted one at a time, and he slowly focused on the perfect face in front of him. Instead of fainting, he was drawn even closer, captivated. "I was worried I would pass out." He whispered honestly. "Your eyes kind of, do that." He wasn't sure he minded sounding stupid, at the moment.

"Your eyes are just as intense. In different ways, but just the same."

"Nuh-uh." Naruto drawled just slightly. Itachi just shifted his fingers on Naruto's face a little, and both of there mouths drew closer together. Naruto dreamed it before, but not even dreams could compare to the real thing.

Sasuke came out of hiding from his place at the foot of the stairs and smirked. He had only been up there perhaps five minutes, tops. The Uchiha had a plan. But was he really this evil? What he was about to do was totally cruel, and yet…no, he _was_ that evil.

He chucked the bottle of homemade make-up, (by homemade, he mixed whatever cosmetics he could find to get Naruto's color, then found an empty bottle,) at the back of Itachi's head. Then fled.

In pain and irritation, Itachi's head followed the movement of the bottle and came quickly forward. Both froze in place when they realized what exactly had just happened.

Teeth had narrowly avoided clanking together, and their lips had been quickly sealed. Naruto's mouth fled in fear for half a second before returning, and Itachi's hands moved behind his head to keep him close. Forgetting how pissed he would soon be at Sasuke, Itachi's tongue slid across the seam the blonde boy's lips formed. A few hesitant moments later, Naruto opened up, face darkening to reds unseen. Neither was too rowdy, and Naruto was mostly confused. His tongue dipped in patterns Itachi couldn't follow for a few moments, then slowly - practice made perfect - their work became a perfect dance.

Unfortunately, Itachi's pride would not allow Sasuke to get away with this. Their kiss lasted a few more seconds - Naruto reveling in the warmth and sheer feelings behind it - before Itachi broke away gently and stood up, the blonde gasping for air. He'd really have to thank both brothers for that later, Sasuke's bottle throwing included.

"Sasuke, I'm giving you two seconds." Naruto picked up the make-up bottle that had ended up on the couch. It looked like his color, but he couldn't be sure. He must have mixed red colored lip gloss into or something. Naruto hoped the mix wouldn't make him break out.

"That was my _exact_ desired result." Sasuke popped back at the other side of the living room, while Itachi seethed at him. The younger brother's smirk seemed to be plastered permanently to his face. "And hey, wait until I'm out of the house before something _serious_ happens."

Itachi ignored him and started to come forward, but Naruto suddenly cried, "What are you holding behind your back?" The younger did indeed have his hands behind him. Itachi paused and gave him a fiery look. He didn't…no, he couldn't possibly have the guts…

"This?" Sasuke confidently pulled a video camera from behind him. A small green light glimmered in the corner of the front of it. That light meant it was recording. No doubt it had seen the entire thing.

Naruto gaped for a few seconds before standing up to join Itachi in a ready stance. Both Uchihas and Uzumaki looked ready to start an all out chase around the house. "Sasuke, put the camera down and no one gets hurt!" But Naruto's voice came out a half nervous, half playful pleading sound.

"And risk Hinata's birthday present? No way." Sasuke smirk grew bigger and he waved the camera a little.

"Let's kill him."

"Agreed." The younger Uchiha fled, camera in hand.

…It didn't matter anymore, what he'd done or what had happened. What mattered, was that Itachi was always there, and cared most about him. Him being sexy was an added bonus, too.

* * *

Skipping school that day was inevitable. But for the purpose of not making Iruka any more on edge then he already was, Naruto stayed with the Uchiha's until around four, Mikoto coming home around two. That almost became a problem, but Itachi was quick on thinking of an excuse. School got out early. She was pleased as usual that Naruto was there.

As for the chase, Itachi and Naruto had come out successful, only after cornering Sasuke and threatening him for the tape. Sasuke was put out, but at least he hadn't said anything to Hinata about it, so there were no hopes to burn. He'd have to video tape them some other time…Doing something much more worthy to give…

Naruto walked home, even though Mikoto offered to drive him. He didn't exactly want Iruka to know he was coming. He was still a little shaken from that morning, but mostly fixed up, including the covering of the bites.

The door was unlocked, but when he opened it, Iruka wasn't grading papers like he usually would be at this hour. He wasn't sitting at the table in the front room, either, where he did just about everything. No dinner smells…he usually had something cooking about this time, too, if he wasn't working. Naruto could only he pray he hadn't holed himself up in some kind of depression.

He walked through the house towards the hallway that had his and Iruka's bedrooms, and another room for the computer. He heard the clicking sounds of typing. This wasn't a good sign. It meant he was either sending things to parents - which wasn't likely, since he usually used paper - or he was depressed. He never used the computer without being upset.

Naruto walked in and made his presence noticeable, but Iruka didn't look up. Naruto wished he would have called him, at some point, suddenly. After everything he did for him, Naruto still managed to make him upset. The blonde came up behind his chair and put his arms around his neck, relaxing all of his weight. "Hi, Dad."

"What's the matter, Naruto? You're heavy." Iruka didn't turn his head, and he seemed to still be concentrating. He was probably too afraid to say anything about what had happened, for fear of letting his emotions show.

"Dad, when you love someone, it doesn't matter how old they are, does it?"

Iruka's fingers stopped hitting keys.

"Because…If you aren't labeling anyone as a certain thing, a Dad, or a friend, or a child or crush…If they're all just people you love, it shouldn't matter how old they are. Because most of my friends are my age, some are younger, and you're older. It doesn't really matter how you categorize them, right?"

Iruka turned a little, and the blonde let go of his neck so he could turn his body all the way around. He pulled Naruto in closer for a hug, and murmured, "You think this had to do with age, or a test of how you felt?"

"I don't know." But it sounded more like he was trying to say "Yes." Naruto snuggled himself closer.

"It wouldn't have mattered…whether the person you love is male or female, younger or older, it doesn't matter to me. That's not what scared me, but I know I made it sound that way. I was just upset about it in the moment - didn't know what I was saying." Iruka mussed his hair.

"Then -"

"It just makes a difference to my mentality. No matter what their gender, or age, I'd freak out if anyone was with my baby!" Iruka chuckled and pinched his backside.

"I'm not your baby." Naruto growled, but he couldn't hold back his laughter. "Dad, I think you don't have too worry much anymore."

"Why's that?"

"Because I think Itachi is afraid of making you mad!" They both laughed.

Iruka squeezed him a little tighter. "All they ever do is seem to care for you, so I know you're in good hands."

"Yeah, really good hands." Naruto smiled and thought of the literality of those words. "Thanks, Dad."

* * *

Yay! I'm finally finished! The end of the second to last section and the last section are a little weak, but I was determined to get this finished. I hope you all enjoyed it! I'm not the biggest fan of Neji, either, so that hopefully explains a few things ^^


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